François de Chateaubriand

Mémoires d’Outre-Tombe: Index D

Index:

1758-1792. A French statesman, and a nephew of Calonne, he was Louis XVI’s last minister of war (July 1792), and organised the defence of the Tuileries prior to the attack of August 10. Commanded by the Legislative Assembly to dismiss the Swiss Guards, he refused, and was arrested for treason to the nation and sent to Orléans to be tried. At the end of August the Assembly ordered D’Abancourt and other prisoners to be transferred to Paris with an escort commanded by Claude Fournier, the American. At Versailles they learned of the massacres at Paris, and D’Abancourt and his fellow-prisoners were murdered in cold blood on September 8, 1792. Fournier was unjustly charged with complicity in the crime.

Dagobert

c.600-639 King of the Franks 632-639. The last of the Merovingians to exercise personal rule, he made himself independent of the great nobles, especially of Pepin of Landen. He extended his rule over the Basques and the Bretons. His reign was prosperous; and he acted as a patron of learning and the arts. He founded the first great abbey of Saint-Denis, where he is buried.

BkXXVI:Chap1:Sec1 The celebrated song concerning ‘Good king Dagobert’ dated from the Revolution, in which the sans-culottes ridiculed the monarchy, and was inspired by a supposed incident from Dagobert’s life in which he arrived at a council meeting with his trousers askew.

Dalberg, Karl Theodore Anton Maria von, Prince

1744-1817. Bishop of Constance 1800, Archbishop-Elector of Mainz 1802, Primate of the German Confederation (Ratisbon, 1803), he was a supporter of Napoleon. He died in Ratisbon.

Dalberg, Emmerich Joseph, Duc de

1773-1833. A Nephew of Charles, he was in the service of the Grand-Duke of Baden, then attached himself to Napoleon, became a naturalised Frenchman, and assisted in the marriage of the Emperor with Marie-Louise. On the fall of Napoleon, he became a member of the provisional government. He accompanied Talleyrand to the Congress of Vienna as a plenipotentiary, and received a peerage from Louis XVIII and the Turin embassy. He is attributed with part-authorship of the Histoire de la Restauration of Capefigue.

Dallas, Lady

Damas, Ange-Hyacinthe-Maxence, Baron de

1785-1862. General in the Russian army (1814), he was Minister of War (1823), and replaced Chateaubriand as Foreign Minister in June 1824. In 1828 he became tutor to the Duc de Bordeaux at Holyrood and Prague until 1833. He then retired to his estates in Dordogne.

Damas, Comte Alfred de

Damascus

The capital and largest city of Syria. Founded approximately 2500 BC, it is thought to be the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world, before Al Fayyum, and Gaziantep. The Burid Emirs withstood a siege of the city during the Second Crusade in 1148.

Damasus I, Pope

c304-384. He was elected pope in October, 366, by a large majority, but a number of adherents of the deceased Liberius chose the deacon Ursinus (or Ursicinus), had the latter irregularly consecrated, and resorted to bloodshed in order to seat him in the Chair of Peter. Valentinian recognized Damasus and banished (367) the anti-Pope Ursinus to Cologne,

Dambray, Charles-Henri, Chevalier

1760-1829. French magistrate, he retired to Oissel during the Revolution and Empire. Louis XVIII at the Restoration made him Chancellor, Minister of Justice, and President of the Chamber of Peers. He took refuge in England during the Hundred Days.

Damiens,, Robert-François

Damietta, Egypt

A port in Dimyat, Egypt on the Mediterranean Sea at the Nile delta, about 200 kilometres north of Cairo, it was the object of the Seventh Crusade, led by Louis IX of France. His fleet arrived there in 1249 and quickly captured the fort, though he refused to hand it over to the nominal king of Jerusalem, to whom it had been promised during the Fifth Crusade. However, Louis too was eventually defeated in Egypt and was forced to give up the city.

Dandini, Ercole, Cardinal

Dandolo, Enrico, Doge

1107?-1205. The Doge of the city-state of Venice from 1192 until his death, he is remembered primarily for deflecting the Fourth Crusade away from fighting Islam and into attacking the Christians of Croatia and the Byzantine Empire.

Dangeau, Philippe de Courcilon, Marquis de

1638-1720. A French officer and author, born in Chartres, he is best remembered for keeping a diary from 1684 till the year of his death. These Memoirs, which Saint-Simon said were ‘so insipid as to make you feel ill, contain many facts about the reign of Louis XIV.

Danican, Auguste

1763-1848. A revolutionary general, dismissed during the War of the Vendée for ineptitude, he had been found a job in Rouen. After Vendémiaire he sought refuge in England where he published a pamphlet opposing the Convention in 1796.

Danissy

Dante Alighieri

1265-1321 An Italian Poet, born in Florence, he was actively involved in the struggle between the Black Guelphs supported by the Pope, and the White Guelphs who favoured a democratic commune. He was exiled and settled eventually in Ravenna c. 1318. Author of La Vita Nuova (c.1292) an autobiographical work concerning his love for Beatrice (probably based on Beatrice Portinari who died at the age of 24), various political and literary treatises, and La Divina Commedia, started c. 1307 a spiritual journey through the divine realms.

BkXXIX:Chap2:Sec2BkXXIX:Chap6:Sec1 He died in exile at Ravenna in 1321 and his tomb is near the Basilica of St Francis. A bag supposedly containing some of his ashes has recently been discovered in Florence. The tomb’s exterior is Neo-Classical, 1780, built by Camillo Morigia. The first quotation is from Purgatorio XVI:65-66. The second and third are from Vita Nuova XXI:39 and 71-76. The fourth is from Purgatorio XXX:126-127, where Beatrice reproaches Dante. The fifth is from a Latin letter to a Florentine friend, of 1315-1317. The sixth is from Inferno XV:85.

Danton, Georges-Jacques

1759-1794 A statesman and orator, he was a leader of the Cordeliers in 1789 and 1790, and became Minister of Justice in the new Republic in 1792. A member of the first Committee of Public Safety, he lost power as the Reign of Terror developed. He and his followers were arrested in March 1794, charged with conspiracy and guillotined.

BkIX:Chap1:Sec1 The Legislative Assembly elected on a restricted middle-class franchise met on 1st October 1791. It excluded all members of the Constituent Assembly. Danton was not initially elected to it.

BkIX:Chap3:Sec1 A contingent of 500 citizen soldiers from Marseilles who had put down a royalist insurrection in Arles, equipped by Danton, arrived in Paris towards the end of July 1792, bringing with them the Marseillaise penned by Rouget de Lisle at Strasbourg for the Army of the Rhine and adapted by the fédérés.

Dantzig, François Joseph Lefebvre, Duc de, Marshal of France

1755-1820. A Marshal of France, he rose from the ranks in the Revolutionary Wars and distinguished himself under Napoleon. He aided Napoleon in the coup of 18 Brumaire and was later made (1803) duke of Dantzig. His wife, who had been a washerwoman, caused some sensation through her unconventional manners and is the heroine of Victorien Sardou’s play Madame Sans-Gêne.

Danube

Europe’s second-longest river (after the Volga) originates in the Black Forest in Germany as two smaller rivers, the Brigach and the Breg, which meet at Donaueschingen, and it is from here that it is known as the Danube, flowing generally eastwards for a distance of some 1770 miles, passing through several Central and Eastern European capitals, before emptying into the Black Sea via the Danube Delta in Romania.

BkXXXVI:Chap7:Sec1 Ister was the Roman name for the lower course of the Danube, the Euxine being the Black Sea.

Danzig (Dantzig), Poland

Gdańsk (German name Danzig), the port in Northern Poland, is on the Baltic. It developed as a trade centre during the Renaissance. It was at times under Prussian control (1793-1807 and 1814-1919). From 1807-1815 it was the Free City of Danzig, during the Napoleonic era.

BkI:Chap1:Sec9 It was besieged by Russian forces during the Battle of Danzig in 1734, in the War of the Polish Succession. It fell in 1735.

Darfur, Africa

A region of the far-western Sudan in which Sultan Abd-er-Rahman reigned 1785-1799, surnamed el-Rashid or the Just. While Napoleon was campaigning in Egypt, Abd-er-Rahman wrote to congratulate the French general on his defeat of the Mamluks. To this Bonaparte replied by asking the sultan to send him by the next caravan 2000 black slaves upwards of sixteen years old, strong and vigorous. Abd-er-Rahman also established a new capital at Al Fashir, the royal township, which he established as capital in 1791/2.

Darius III, Codomannus

d.330BC. King of ancient Persia (336–330). A cousin of Artaxerxes III, he was raised to the throne by the eunuch Bagoas, who murdered both Artaxerxes and his son, Arses; Darius in turn murdered Bagoas. When Alexander invaded Persia, Darius was defeated at the battle of Issus (333), and again at the battle of Gaugamela, near Arbela (331). Darius was forced to flee to Bactria. It was there that the satrap, Bessus, had him murdered. These events ended the Persian Empire and marked the start of the Hellenistic period in the Eastern Mediterranean. Darius III is probably the Darius the Persian mentioned in the Bible (Nehemiah: 12.22).

Daru, Pierre-Antoine-Noël Bruno, Comte

1726-1829 A French soldier, administrator, statesman, and writer, he served in the French Revolutionary Wars, was imprisoned during the Reign of Terror, and became chief of the army commissary under Napoleon I, who made him a Count. His exemplary administration contributed to Napoleon’s victories. Daru also filled various cabinet posts under Napoleon and was made a peer after the restoration of the Bourbons. His writings include histories of Venice and Brittany, and translations of Horace.

BkXVIII:Chap8:Sec2 Takes a copy of Chateaubriand’s Academy acceptance speech to Napoleon. In fact it was Regnaud and Ségur who informed Napoleon of the affair.

Dasté, Madame

David, King of Israel

d.962BC. King of Israel c1000-962BC, he was anointed by Samuel as successor to Saul. After Saul’s death he was proclaimed King of Hebron, and then all Israel. He conquered Jerusalem and united the tribes.

BkXIII:Chap7:Sec2 The words are those of David after the death of his child by Bathsheba. Samuel: XII.23

David II, King of Scotland

1324-1371. King of Scotland from 1329, and allied with France, he was defeated at Neville’s Cross in 1346 and imprisoned till 1357.

BkXXXVIII:Chap2:Sec1 Chateaubriand incorrectly writes Robert Bruce, his father, who was succeeded by David in 1329.

David, Jacques-Louis

1748-1825 French painter in the Neoclassical style. In the 1780s his cerebral brand of History painting marked a change in taste away from Rococo frivolity towards a classical austerity and severity, chiming with the moral climate of the final years of the ancien régime. He became an active supporter of the Revolution and a friend of Robespierre, and was effectively a dictator of the arts under the French Republic. Imprisoned after Robespierre’s fall from power, he later aligned himself with Napoleon I. It was at this time that he developed his ‘Empire style’, notable for its use of warm Venetian colours. David had a large number of pupils, making him the strongest influence on French art of the 19th century, especially academic Salon painting.

David, Pierre-Jean

1788-1856. Usually called David d’Angers, he was a French sculptor noted for his pediment of the Pantheon, his marble Philopoemen in the Louvre and his monument to General Gobert in Père Lachaise Cemetery. In addition to that of Gobert, he did sculptures for seven other tombs at Père Lachaise, including the bronze busts of the writer, Honoré de Balzac and physician Samuel Hahnemann. His marble bust of Chateaubriand executed in July 1829 is now at Combourg. He also executed a medallion portrait of the writer in the following year.

1770-1823. One of Napoleon's ablest generals, Davout defeated a Prussian army at Auerstadt (1806) and played a brilliant part in the victory at Wagram (1809). He also fought (1812) in the Russian campaign. Napoleon made him duke of Auerstedt, prince of Eckmühl, and gave him political posts including control of N Germany and Poland (1807–9). During the Hundred Days, Davout was minister of war, and after the final defeat of Napoleon (1815) and the restoration of King Louis XVIII he was for several years deprived of his rank and titles.

BkXX:Chap5:Sec1 As commander of the III corps of the Grande Armée, Davout rendered the greatest services. At the Battle of Austerlitz, after a forced march of forty-eight hours, the III corps bore the brunt of the allies' attack.

Deane, Silas

1737-1789. Political leader and diplomat in the American Revolution. A lawyer and merchant at Wethersfield, Conn., he was elected (1772) to the state assembly and became a leader in the revolutionary cause. He was (1774–76) a delegate to the Continental Congress, which sent (1776) him as diplomatic agent to France. There Deane worked with Pierre de Beaumarchais in securing commercial and military aid for the colonies, obtaining supplies that were of material help in the Saratoga campaign (1777). He recruited a number of foreign officers, such as the Marquis de Lafayette, Casimir Pulaski, Baron von Steuben, and Johann De Kalb. Late in 1776, Congress sent Benjamin Franklin and Arthur Lee to join Deane. Together they arranged (1778) a commercial and military alliance with France. Deane, however, was soon recalled by Congress and was faced with accusations of profiteering made against him by Lee. Embittered, unable to clear himself, and accused as a traitor after publication of some pessimistic private letters, Deane lived the rest of his life in exile. In 1842 Congress voted $37,000 to his heirs as restitution and characterized Lee’s audit of Deane’s accounts ‘a gross injustice.’

Deboffe, Joseph C.

London Bookseller who handled the sale of Chateaubriand’s Essai, 1797. Cox and Baylis the printers are recorded as selling through Deboffe, and through Dulau and Co. Deboffe, who imported foreign books, had premises at 7 Gerard Street (1792-1807) and 10 Nassau Street (1808-1818), both in Soho. A. B. Dulau and Co, printers and French booksellers, operated from 37 Soho Square (1800-1843) and ran a circulating library. Both also sold the Mercure de France.

Decazes, Élisée, Baron

Decazes, Élie, Duc

1780-1860 French statesman, he was a favourite of King Louis XVIII, who made him a duke in 1820. A lawyer and judge (Seine, 1806), Decazes was Secretary to Louis Bonaparte (1807), a Councillor at the Paris Court (1811), and Secretary to Madame Mère. At the Restoration he supported the new regime, and stayed loyal during the Hundred Days. Minister of Police in 1815 (September, succeeding Fouché), he was influential in the French government (Interior Minister, December 1818) even before he became (1819) Premier. His government maintained a precarious balance between the ultra-royalists and the radicals, as he emerged as a leader of the moderates supporting a constitutional government. His downfall came when the ultra-royalists accused him of complicity in the assassination (1820) of the Duc de Berry. He resigned, but Louis XVIII made him a Duke, and sent him as ambassador to England (1820–21). Decazes continued to figure in politics until the February Revolution of 1848.

BkVI:Chap1:Sec1 French Ambassador to London 1820-1822, prior to Chateaubriand.

BkXXV:Chap5:Sec1BkXXV:Chap11:Sec1 A Minister in 1815. He came originally from Libourne, hence was a southerner. His fall. Chateaubriand’s comment about his feet slipping in blood was published in his ‘Paris Letter’ in the Conservateur of 3rd March 1820.

BkXXV:Chap13:Sec1 Decazes resigned on the 17th February 1820. On the 20th Richelieu accepted the Presidency of the Council, while Comte Simon took the Interior Ministry.

BkXXVI:Chap11:Sec1 Replaced as ambassador in London, by the decree of 9th January 1822, by Chateaubriand.

Deffand, Marie de Vichy-Chamrond, Madame du

1697-1780. French woman of letters, whose salon was frequented (1753-80) by the leaders of the Enlightenment. She is widely considered the most brilliant woman of her era. Her letters (1766-80) to Horace Walpole, whom she loved deeply, are typical of her brilliant, witty correspondence.

Dego, Battle of

14th-15th April 1796. After his success at Montenotte two days before, Napoleon pushed the Austrians from the town of Dego in Lombardy. An Austrian assault in turn ejected him, but a personally led counterattack won the battle for Bonaparte and the French.

Delaware River

Delessert, Benjamin

1773-1847. Industrialist and economist he was a Deputy 1817-1824 and 1827-1842. His brother Gabriel was Prefect of Police 1836-1848.

BkXXXII:Chap8:Sec1 Appointed as a Commissioner on the 30th July 1830 to confer with the Peers.

Delessert, Valentine de Laborde, Madame

1806-1894. The niece of Natalie de Nouailles she married Gabriel Delessert (1786-1858) in 1824. He became Prefect of Police from 1836 to 1848, and a Peer of France. Merimée’s future Muse she collaborated on the Legitimist paper La Mode where her drawings were a great success.

Delga, Jacques-Michel, Colonel

1771-1809. Fought in Italy and Egypt. He was Squadron-Leader, commanding the Guards infantry at Vincennes on the execution of the Duc d’Enghien. He commanded the 2nd Line Regiment in Germany and Austria. Made a Baron of the Empire, and a General on the eve of his death at Wagram, the appointment was never made official.

Delilah

Delille, Jacques

1738-1813. Born in the Auvergne, he received his education at the Collège de Lisieux in Paris and became an instructor at the Collège de la Marche in the same city. His translation into verse of Virgil’s ‘Georgics’, which appeared in 1770, had great success and eventually won for him a seat in the French Academy. He was afterwards appointed to the chair of poetry in the Collège de France and through the patronage of the Count d’ Artois he received as a benefice the Abbey of Saint-Severin, but took only minor orders. The French Revolution deprived him of his position and benefice, and in 1794 he had to leave France; his exile was spent in Switzerland, Germany, and England. He returned to France in 1802 and again took his seat in the French Academy.

Delisle de Sales, Jean-Baptiste Claude Isoard

1741-1816 Philosopher. Author of Philosophie de la nature (1770), which was condemned by the Chatelet and the author imprisoned there in 1777. He was sentenced to banishment but the sentence was quashed. He also wrote the Histoire des Hommes (1780-1785). A prolific, fertile, and somewhat neglected writer and compiler.

Delloye, Henri-Louis

Delloye

The Greek island in the Aegean, one of the Cyclades, was the birthplace of, and sacred to, Apollo (Phoebus) and Diana (Phoebe, Artemis), hence the adjective Delian. Its ancient name was Ortygia. A wandering island it gave sanctuary to Latona (Leto). Having been hounded by jealous Juno (Hera), she gave birth there to the twins Apollo and Diana, between an olive tree and a date-palm on the north side of Mount Cynthus. (Pausanias VIII xlvii, mentions the sacred palm-tree, noted there in Homer’s Odyssey 6, 162, and the ancient olive.) Delos then became fixed in the sea. In a variant she gave birth to Artemis-Diana on the islet of Ortygia nearby.

Delphi, Greece

A village in Phocis at the foot of Mount Parnassus (modern Kastri), it was the site of the ancient temple and oracle of Apollo. A stadium for the Pythian Games stood nearby. Its influence declined after the 4th century BC and it was closed by the Christian Emperor Theodosius in 390AD.

Delzons, Alexis-Joseph, General

Demaret, for Desmarest, Pierre-Marie

1764-1832. Originally a priest, at Chartres, he became a violent Jacobin from 1792 until 1799. Sponsored by Réal and Fouché he became Divisional Chief of the Sûreté, and head of the Secret Police under Napoleon, until 1814.

Demir-Capi, Khan of

Demir-Capi, the ‘Iron Gate’, was the Turkish name for various narrow passes, for example that at Derbend between the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea (see Marco Polo’s Travels, Chapter V) or that near Medina said to have been made by the sword of Ali, Mohammed’s son-in-law (See Hakluyt’s Navigations etc IX.)

Demosthenes

384-322BC. Athenian orator and statesman, he opposed Macedonian ambitions in the Philippics. The Macedonians defeated the Athenian-Theban alliance at Chaeronea in 338, assuring Macedonian supremacy in Greece. After the death of Alexander, he fostered a Greek revolt, was condemned to death, fled Athens and committed suicide.

Denis, Marie-Louise Mignot, Madame

1712-1790. The daughter of Voltaire’s sister. In 1737, Voltaire assisted in arranging the marriage of his niece, and assumed financial responsibility for her on the premature death of her husband in 1744. Marie Louise was hostess to the many people who visited Voltaire’s chateau at Ferney. On Voltaire's death in 1778, Madame Denis inherited the bulk of his estate. Preferring Paris society, she sold the chateau and returned to the capital.

Denmark, Christian-Frederick, Prince of

1786-1848. Cousin of King Frederick VI, he succeeded him in 1839 as Christian VIII. As governor and King (May–October, 1814) of Norway he accepted a liberal Norwegian constitution that is still in use with some modifications. His reign brought prosperity to Denmark. The nature of Danish rule in the duchies of Schleswig-Holstein became a prominent issue in 1846. His son Frederick VII succeeded him.

Denmark, Caroline Amalia of Augustenburg, Princess of

1796-1881. She was the daughter of Louise Augusta of Denmark, and married Prince Christian in 1815. They lived in comparative retirement as leaders of the literary and scientific society of Copenhagen until he inherited the throne.

Denon, Dominique Vivant, Baron

1747-1825. A Writer, and painter, he carried out missions for the Foreign Office in Russia and Switzerland in the 1770’s. He was Secretary to the Embassy in Naples in 1785. Lived in Venice until 1793, when, expelled as a possible spy, he returned to France. Aged 50 he went on Napoleon’s Egyptian expedition of 1798. On his return he worked on countless engravings from the journey, and published his narrative, which helped to create the fashion for all things Egyptian and gave him an International reputation. In 1802 he became Director of the Central Museum of the Arts, and on the fall of the Empire the first Director of the Louvre.

Depagne

Desaix de Veygoux, Louis-Charles-Antoine, General

1768-1800. A French general in the Revolutionary Wars, he served under Jourdan and Moreau on the Rhine and distinguished himself in Napoleon’s Egyptian campaign. He saved the day for Napoleon at Marengo, dying in the battle.

BkXIX:Chap17:Sec1BkXIX:Chap18:Sec1 Subdued Upper Egypt in 1799, pursuing Murad Bey during the latter half of 1798, and defeating him decisively at Samhoud in January 1799. In March he was at Aswan, 800 kilometres from Cairo. Napoleon sang his praises.

BkXX:Chap2:Sec1 His death at Marengo on the 14th of June 1800, was on the same day Kléber was assassinated.

De Sales, Delisle (= Izouard, Isoard, Isouard, Jean-Baptiste Claude)

c1741-1816. A philosopher and writer, his De la Philosophie de la Nature (1766) caused a scandal for its professed atheism and nihilism. The work was condemned to be burned, the author imprisoned and the censor exiled. Delisle filed for appeal and was supported by the whole circle of the philosophes who saw in him the champion of liberty of thought and expression. He spent the rest of his life trying to earn himself a reputation as a writer and philosopher and his production of works dealing with a variety of subjects is impressive. He wrote speculative books on utopias etc, and various tracts on happiness, the freedom of the press etc. He published Ma République in 1787.

Desgarcins, Magdeleine-Marie (originally Louise)

1769-1797. A French actress, born at Mont Dauphin (Hautes Alpes), in her short career she became one of the greatest of French tragdiennes, the associate of Talma, with whom she nearly always played. Her debut at the Comédie Francaise occurred on the 24th of May 1788, in Bajazet, and was a great success. She was one of the actresses who left the Comédie Francaise in 1791 for the house in the Rue Richelieu, soon to become the Théatre de La République, and there her triumphs were no less in King Lear, Othello, La Harpe’sMelanie et Virginie, &c. Her health, however, failed, and she died insane, in Paris, on the 27th of October 1797.

Deshoulières, Antoinette de Ligier de la Garde, Madame

Désilles de Cambernon, Marc, Seigneur de La Fosse-Hingant

c.60 years of age in 1793. He was the treasurer of the Breton Conspiracy. He fled to Jersey after the failure of the conspiracy where he met Chateaubriand.

BkV:Chap15:Sec3 His family mentioned. One of his daughters, Jeanne, and his brother-in-law Michel Picot de Limoëlan (father of Chateaubriand’s schoolfriend) were guillotined in June 1793, along with the Comtesse de Trojolif.

Desjardins, Captain

Captain of a fishing-vessel of 160 tons, the Saint-Pierre, out of Saint-Malo, commissioned to take a group of seminarists to Baltimore (illegally).

Desmortiers, Louis-Henri

Desmoulins, Lucie Simplice Camille Benoist

1760-1794. A French revolutionary and journalist, his oratory of July 12th 1789 contributed to the storming of the Bastille two days later. His pamphlets and journals, such as Révolutions de France et de Brabant (1789), were received with immense enthusiasm. Elected to the Convention (1792), he attacked the Girondists in the Histoire des Brissotins; but late in 1793, after the execution of Girondist leaders, Desmoulins, along with Georges Danton, counselled moderation, publishing the journal Le Vieux Cordelier. He was arrested with Danton and others, and executed. His beautiful wife, Lucile Duplessis, was guillotined shortly after.

Desmoulins, Lucile (Duplessis)

1770.1794. The daughter of Annette Duplessis and Claude Duplessis, a Treasury official. She married the French revolutionary Camille Desmoulins (her childhood tutor) on December 29 1790 at The Church of Saint Sulpice in Paris. The only child of the marriage, Horace Camille, was born on July 6 1792. Less than two months after her husband was sent to the guillotine she was arrested for supposedly exciting a prison revolt to free him, she told the Tribunal that she was happy for death for ‘you send me to my husband.’ She was sent to the guillotine on April 13 1794..

Desprez, Louis

Despuig y Dameto, Antonio, Cardinal

1745-1813. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of July 11, 1803; received the red hat, July 14, 1803; and the title of S. Callisto, September 26, 1803. He was Archpriest of the patriarchal Liberian basilica, December 28, 1803. Pro-vicar of His Holiness for Rome, March 26, 1808, he was forced by the French to leave Rome, November 11, 1809; because of his poor health he was allowed to return to Italy and went to live in Lucca. Collector of books and art, in his farm of Raixa, between Palma and Sóller, established a museum surrounded by beautiful gardens. He was Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals, 1810 until his death.

De Quelen, Hyacinthe Louis

1778-1839. Archbishop of Paris from 1821, the favours of Louis XVIII and Charles X did not make him subservient. As a peer of the realm he opposed, on behalf of the middle classes, the conversion of the national debt. At his reception into the French Academy he publicly lauded Chateaubriand, then in disgrace. After the Revolution of 1830 the archbishop, twice driven from his palace, had to seek refuge in humble quarters and to bear in silence the worst calumnies against his person. However, when the epidemic of 1832 broke out, he transformed his seminaries into hospitals, and personally ministered to the sick at the Hôtel-Dieu.

Deuteria

Deutz, Simon

1802-1852. Born in Cologne, he was a Catholic convert from Judaism, recommended to the Duchess de Berry by Pope Gregory VII as a suitable person for a secret mission. Identified by the French authorities as an agent of the Duchess de Berry, he secured his freedom by betraying her, for 500,000 francs to Thiers. he ended his life in Louisiana.

Diamante, Gio Balta

Bursar of the Cathedral of Ajaccio in July 1771.

BkXIX:Chap3:Sec1 Napoleon’s baptism was carried out by his uncle Lucien, the archdeacon, assisted by Diamante.

Diana

Daughter of Jupiter and Latona (hence her epithet Latonia) and twin sister of Apollo, Roman Goddess of the moon and the hunt, she carries a bow, quiver and arrows. She and her followers are virgins. She was worshipped as the triple goddess, as Hecate in the underworld, Luna the moon, in the heavens, and Diana the huntress on earth. (Skelton’s ‘Diana in the leaves green, Luna who so bright doth sheen, Persephone in hell’)(See Luca Penni’s – Diana Huntress – Louvre, Paris, and Jean Goujon’s sculpture (attributed) – Diana of Anet – Louvre, Paris.)

Diane de Poitiers, Duchesse de Valentinois

1499-1566. Mistress of Henry II of France, noted for her beauty, Diane, who was much older than Henry, retained her influence over him until his death (1559). She maintained friendly relations with the queen, Catherine de’ Medici, while completely eclipsing her. In the rivalry for Henry’s favour between Anne, Duc de Montmorency, and the Guise family, she took sides against whichever party was more powerful at the moment. She supported the king’s anti-Protestant policy. After Henry’s death, she was forced to retire from court.

Diderot, Denis

1713-1784 Philosopher. Editor (after 1750) of the Encyclopédie. With Voltaire a creator of the Enlightenment. Fascinated by science he developed a form of pantheism. His Lettre sur les aveugles (1749) and other writings were materialistic and anti-Christian.

BkII:Chap3:Sec3 His play le Père de famille printed in 1758, and performed in Paris in 1761. The play seen by Chateaubriand at Saint-Malo in 1779.

BkX:Chap8:Sec2 In July 1749, he was arrested and imprisoned at Vincennes as author of the Lettre sur les aveugles à l'usage de ceux qui voient. His publishers gained greater freedom for Diderot in prison, including the right to receive visitors, and finally his liberation, in November 1749.

Didon, Dido

The Phoenician Queen of Carthage, Elissa or Dido, was a manifestation of Astarte, the Great Goddess. A Sidonian, she founded Carthage, loved Aeneas, and committed suicide when he deserted her. (See Virgil, Aeneid, Book IV, and Marlowe’s The Tragedy of Dido, Queen of Carthage: See also Purcell’s operatic work ‘Dido and Aeneas’.)

BkXIX:Chap5:Sec2 The main role in the opera Dido (1783) by Niccolo Piccini (1728-1800).

BkXXII:Chap 26:Sec1 She is supposed to have marked out the boundaries of Carthage. Arriving as an exile she asked the local inhabitants for a temporary refuge, only as much land as could be encompassed by an oxhide. She cut the oxhide into fine strips enough to surround an entire nearby hill, which was therefore afterwards named Byrsa ‘hide’.

Dijon, France

Dillingen, Bavaria

Dillingen an der Donau (Dillingen on the Danube) in Bavaria, Germany is the administrative centre of the district of Dillingen. The counts of Dillingen ruled from the 10th to the 13th century, in 1258 the territory was turned over to the Prince Bishops of Augsburg. After the Reformation, the Bishops of Augsburg moved to the Catholic city of Dillingen and made it one of the centres of the Counter-Reformation.

Dillon, Édouard, Comte de

Dillon, Hélene-Éléonore, Marquise d’Osmond

1753-1831. She was the daughter of Robert Dillon, Seigneur de Terrefort (1710-1769) and Mary Dicconson. She married (1778) René Eustache d’Osmond. The famous memoir writer, Adèle-Louise-Eléonore d'Osmond, Comtesse de Boigne (1781-1866), was her daughter.

Dinan, College of

The College was attached to the diocese of Saint-Malo which lacked such an establishment. It was re-founded in 1777 by Mgr des Laurents, and prepared students for the seminary. The school year as at Rennes began on the 18th October, Saint Luke’s day.

Dingé

Dino, Dorothée, Duchesse de

1795-1862. Dorothée de Courlande married Comte Edmond de Périgord, great-nephew of Talleyrand who granted the young couple the Duchy of Dino in Calabria awarded to him at the Congress of Vienna in exchange for the Principality of Benevento. She was probably Talleyrand’s mistress. She became Duchesse de Talleyrand in 1838, and Duchesse de Sagan in 1845.

BkXLII:Chap8:Sec1 Her daughter Pauline (1820-1890), eighteen years old, who was possibly Talleyrand’s daughter, had Dupanloup as confessor, who arranged Talleyrand’s last rites at the request of the family. Pauline grew up with Talleyrand whom he called his ‘angel in the house’.

Diocletian, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus

245-313 AD. Roman Emperor 284-305. Born in Dalmatia he rose to prominence in the Army. Diocletian ruled the Eastern Empire. In 305 he retired to Split in Croatia. He put an end to the disastrous phase of Roman history known as the ‘Military Anarchy’ or the ‘Imperial Crisis’ (235-284). He established an obvious military despotism and was responsible for laying the groundwork for the second phase of the Roman Empire, which is known variously as the ‘Dominate,’ the ‘Tetrarchy,’ the ‘Later Roman Empire,’ or the ‘Byzantine Empire.’ His reforms ensured the continuity of the Roman Empire in the east for more than a thousand years.

BkXVIII:Chap6:Sec1 The state of religious belief under Diocletian. His wife and daughter have been deemed Christian sympathisers. Diocletian himself tried to unify religion around the pagan gods of Rome, and persecuted other religious groups including the early Christians, unlike the tolerance displayed in early Imperial Rome towards the cults and religions of conquered territories. Christianity however survived, and prospered with the conversion of Constantine not long after Diocletian’s rule. References to his court, are allusions to Napoleon’s court, in Les Martyrs.

BkXXIII:Chap1:Sec1 In 305 he retired to Salona (now Split, Croatia) where the magnificent remains of his palace are still extant.

BkXXX:Chap12:Sec1 Dedicated in 306, the Baths of Diocletian in Rome remained in use until the aqueducts feeding them were cut by the Goths in 537.

Diodorus Siculus

d. after 21BC. A Sicilian historian, he wrote, in Greek, a world history in 40 books, ending with Caesar’s Gallic Wars. Fully preserved are Books I–V and XI–XX, which cover Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Indian, Scythian, Arabian, and North African history and parts of Greek and Roman history. It is valuable as a source for the lost works of earlier authors, from whom he borrowed freely, and for his chronological lists of prominent figures from the 5th cent. to 302BC..

Diomedes

Djezzar

1708?-1804. Cezzar Ahmet Pasha also identified as Djezzar Pasha, was a Bosnian-born Ottoman governor who defeated Napoleon during the Egyptian campaign, in Syria at the siege of Acre. Djezzar, which translates as Butcher, was known for his brutal techniques when handling enemies.

Dnieper, River

The river flows from Russia through Belarus and then Ukraine. It has its source in the Valday Hills of central Russia, and runs south eventually flowing into the Black Sea. 115 kilometres of its length serves as a natural border between Belarus and Ukraine.

BkXXI:Chap2:Sec1Herodotus, in his Inquiries, refers to it as the Borysthenes, derived from a local name for the Scythian river-god.

BkXXI:Chap7:Sec1 Napoleon in retreat crossed the river on the 19th November 1812.

Dodona, Greece

The mountain valley oracle of Dodona lies about 22km south-west of Ioannina, in Epirus. It was the site of the oracle of Dione, and subsequently that of Zeus.

BkXXIX:Chap7:Sec1 At the site bronze cauldrons on tripods were set up so that when the wind blew, the cauldrons would touch open another, emitting a bell-like sound which was said to be the Voice of Zeus.

Dol

The first town of note, in Ille-et-Villaine, south-east of Saint-Malo and North of Rennes, when entering Brittany from Normandy, it is bordered by marshland, and was once the capital of Brittany.

Dôle, France

A town in the Jura department of Eastern France, in Franche-Comté, on the Doubs River, it was the capital of Franche-Comté until Louis XIV conquered the region; he shifted the parlement from there to Besançon. The university, founded (1422) by Philip the Good of Burgundy, was also transferred to Besançon at that time. Louis Pasteur was born there; his home is now a museum.

Dombrowski (Dabrowski), Jan Henryk, General

1755-1818. He is regarded as a Polish national hero for his part in Tadeusz Kosciuszko’s rebellion against Russia (1794); he later organized and commanded the Polish legions in Napoleon’s army. In 1812 he commanded one of the Polish divisions in the invasion of Russia, where he was wounded while covering the passage of the Berezina River. He fought in the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, and in 1814 he returned to Poland, where he was one of the generals entrusted by the Russian tsar with the reorganization of the Polish Army. In 1815 he was appointed general of cavalry and senator of the new Kingdom of Poland.

Dominic, Saint

Saint Dominic (Guzman) (1170-1221) the founder of the Order of Preachers, called Dominicans or Black Friars. He was born at Calahorra in Spain of noble parentage. As a young man he became a canon and preached against heresy. He was active among the Albigensians, trying to convert by persuasion, as Simon de Montfort was perpetrating his massacres. He preached throughout Europe and died in Bologna.

Dominique L’Encuirassé, Saint Dominic Loricatus

995-1060. Throughout his life Dominic wore a cuirass of rough iron chain mail next to his skin (hence the name Loricatus, which means clothed in armour). He wore it not for protection, but for mortification. He became a hermit, then a Benedictine monk of Fontavellana Abbey.

Dommonée

Domodossola

A city in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, in the region of Piedmont, Italy, earlier known as Oscela, Oscella, Oscella dei Leponzi, Ossolo, Ossola Lepontiorum, and Domo d’Ossola (because it is in the Ossola valley), Domodossola is situated at the confluence of the Bogna and Toce Rivers, at the foot of the Italian Alps.

Donauwörth

A city in the German State of Bavaria (Bayern), in the region of Swabia (Schwabenland) founded where the Danube (Donau) and Wörnitz rivers meet. Historically important as the site of one of the incidents which led to the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648), in 1606, the Lutheran majority barred the Catholic residents of the town from holding a procession, causing a violent riot to break out. Donauwörth was again the scene of war in 1704, the War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713). The Duke of Marlborough marching from Flanders to Bavaria came to the Danube. The French had decided to make a crossing, were surprised by Marlborough’s troops and after heavy fighting pulled back. This allowed Marlborough to capture Donauwörth and cross the river.

Donnadieu, Gabriel, Baron

1777-1849. A Republican general he was compromised by a conspiracy against Napoleon and interned at Tours in 1812. In 1814 he transferred allegiance to the Bourbons and in 1816 put down Didier’s insurrection at Grenoble. He was a commander in the Spanish expedition of 1823.

Dorat, Claude-Joseph

1734-1780. He obtained a great vogue with a number of heroic epistles. Besides light verse he wrote comedies, fables and novels. His books were lavishly illustrated by good artists and expensively produced, to secure their success. He was inept enough to draw down on himself the hatred both of the philosophe party and of their arch-enemy Charles Palissot, and thus cut himself off from the possibility of academic honours. Le Tartufe litteraire (1777) attacked La Harpe and Palissot, and at the same time D’Alembert and Mlle Lespinasse.

Doria Pamphili, Giuseppe Maria, Cardinal

1751-1816. Arrested by the French authorities in March 1798, he was finally expelled from the territory of the Roman Republic. He accompanied Pope Pius VI to Sienna in April 1798, the exile decreed by Napoleon; he then went to Genoa. He participated in the conclave of 1799-1800 in Venice and entered Rome with the new Pope Pius VII on July 3, 1800. Pro-camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, November 13, 1801; occupied the post until his expulsion from Rome by the French in the spring of 1808. He was transferred to Paris by order of Napoleon in September 1809, and attended the wedding of Napoleon and Marie-Louise of Austria in Paris on April 2, 1810; all the eleven cardinals who assisted were ‘Red Cardinals’. In 1811, he was designated by Napoleon, as sub-dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals, to be part of a group of five cardinals sent to Savona to obtain from Pope Pius VII, who was a prisoner in that city, the approval of the decisions of a national council celebrated in Paris from September 3 to 20, 1811. In 1813, Napoleon made him intermediary to negotiate the Concordat of Fontainbleau.

Doria Riparia, Italy, River

Dorica (Doricha)

Athenaeus wrote: ‘Naucratis has produced some celebrated courtesans of exceeding beauty; as Doricha, who was beloved by Charaxus, brother of the beautiful Sappho, when he went to Naucratis on business, and whom she accuses in her poetry of having robbed him of much. Herodotus calls her Rhodopis.’

BkXLII:Chap7:Sec1 See Athenaeus, The Deipnosophists Book XIII Concerning Women, and the lovely poem by Posidippus the Greek Hellenistic poet (c280-240).

Dorléans, Louis

1542-1629. A French poet and political pamphleteer, he wrote indifferent verses, but was a redoubtable pamphleteer. After the League had arrested the royalist members of parliament, he was appointed (1589) advocate-general. One of his pamphlets, Le Banquet du comte d’Arête, in which he accused Henry (IV) of insincerity in his return to the Roman Catholic faith, was so scurrilous as to be disapproved of by many members of the League. When Henry at length entered Paris, Dorléans was among the number of the proscribed. He took refuge in Antwerp, where he remained for nine years. At the expiration of that period he received a pardon, and returned to Paris, but was soon imprisoned for sedition. The king, however, released him after three months in the Conciergerie, and by this means attached him permanently to his cause. His last years were passed in obscurity.

Dorogobouj (Dorogobuzh), Russia

The town straddles the Dnieper River in Smolensk Oblast, Russia, 125 km to the east of Smolensk and 71 km west of Vyazma. The town originated before the Mongol invasion of Russia as a fortress defending the eastern approaches to Smolensk.

Drake

Dresden

Dresden is the capital of Saxony, east-central Germany, on the Elbe River. In August 1813, Napoleon defeated the coalition forces near the city in his last great victory before his defeat (October 1813) at Leipzig.

BkXX:Chap13:Sec1 Napoleon reviewed his troops there in May 1812, and from 17th to 28th May he held a congress of kings, and prepared for war. It was there that, under pretext of satisfying demands for gentler treatment of the pope, Napoleon decided to have Pius VII removed from Savona to Fontainebleau.

BkXXII:Chap4:Sec1 Napoleon entered Dresden on May 18th 1813 and made it his centre of military operations. The Battle of Dresden was fought on August 26-27, 1813, and resulted in a French victory against the forces of the Sixth Coalition of Austrians, Russians and Prussians under Field Marshal Schwartzenberg. However, Napoleon’s victory was not as complete as it could have been. Substantial pursuit was not undertaken after the battle, and the flanking corps was surrounded and forced to surrender a few days later at the Battle of Kulm.

BkXXIII:Chap11:Sec3 Dresden was ruled by a Russian Governor between 1813 and the Congress of Vienna in 1815, after which the monarchy was restored.

BkXXXV:Chap11:Sec1 The Dance of Death represented there, and variants later produced for example Christoph Walther’s sandstone relief of 1535.

Drouet D’Erlon, Jean-Baptiste Drouet, Comte d’Erlon

1763-1844. He led a highly distinguished career under Napoleon in Europe, including Spain and Portugal. After Napoleon abdicated in 1814 d’Erlon transferred his allegiance to the House of Bourbon along with the rest of the army. However the following year he accepted command of the 16th Military Division under Napoleon. At the battle of Waterloo he commanded French 1st Corps. It was his column which attacked the Allied centre near La Haye Sainte at 13:30 and was stopped by Picton’s Peninsular War veterans, and then attacked in the flanks by the British heavy cavalry. After the surrender of Napoleon, he entered exile in Munich. In 1825 he was granted amnesty by Charles X. In the July Revolution in 1830 he supported the Juilletistes was given the Great Order of the Legion of Honour by Louis-Philippe in 1831 and in 1832 was given command of the 12th Division in Nantes. Later in the year his division suppressed a Vendean revolt and arrested the Duchess of Berry. In 1834 he was named governor-general of Algeria although after the defeat of the French army under General Trezelon on the banks of the Macta in 1835, D’Erlon was recalled to France and replaced. From 1837 he resumed his command of the 12th Division in Nantes a position he held until 1843 when he moved to Paris to retire and was granted the title marshal of France in 1843.

Drouot, Antoine, General

1774-1847. One of Napoleon’s generals, he was the son of a baker, who trained as an artilleryman and took part in the battles of the French Revolution where he rose through the ranks. Later he had an illustrious military career notably at Wagram, Borodino, Lützen, Hanau and Waterloo. He became a major-general in 1805 and aide-de-camp to Napoleon in 1813. Napoleon called him le Sage de la Grande Armée (the Sage of the Grand Army). He was with Napoleon during his exile to the island of Elba, and during the Hundred Days.

Drovetti, Bernadino

Druze

A small, distinct religious community based mostly in the Middle East, whose religion resembles Islam, but is influenced by Greek philosophy and other religions. The Druze reside primarily in Lebanon, Israel, Syria, and Jordan. They are not considered Muslim by most Muslims in the region

Dryden, John

1631-1700. English writer and poet laureate (after 1668). The outstanding literary figure of the Restoration, he wrote critical essays, poems, such as Absalom and Achitophel (1681), and dramas, including All for Love (1678).

BkXII:Chap1:Sec1 The Elegant Extracts (1784) of Vicesimus Knox (1752-1821), headmaster of Tonbridge, was published in many editions from the 1780s. It includes poems by Milton, Dryden, Addison, Rowe, Pope and Thomson, and the compiler’s contemporaries such as Smollett, Smart, Goldsmith, Cowper and Burns, among others,

Du Bartas, Guillaume de Salluste

1544-1590. He was a French poet who served Henri IV. His work translated into many languages formed the basis for Milton’s Paradise Lost.

BkXL:Chap2:Sec3 See his La Semaine, ou la Création en sept journées, of 1578. Its sequel, unfinished at his death, was part-published in 1584.

Du Bellay, Jean, Cardinal

1492-1560. French cardinal and diplomat, younger brother of Guillaume du Bellay, and uncle of the poet, he was bishop of Bayonne in 1526, member of the Privy Council in 1530, and Bishop of Paris in 1532. He was a patron of Rabelais. He was Ambassador from Francis I to Henry VIII and Pope Paul III.

Du Bourg (Dubourg)

He was Governor of the Bastille in 1591.

BkXXII:Chap18:Sec1 On November 15, 1591, during the troubles of the League, the castle was surrendered to the forces of the Duke of Mayenne. It was returned to Royal hands on March 22, 1594, when Du Bourg, who had been given command of the castle, capitulated to Marshal de Matignon. The black scarf was an emblem of the Catholic League (as that of the white was of the Protestants).

Du Chatelet, Diane Adélaïde de Rochechouart, Duchesse

d.1794. Executed during the Terror.

BkX:Chap8:Sec2 Her name appears on the death warrant exhibited, and she was executed with Chateaubriand’s brother.

Du Guesclin, Bertrand

c.1320-80, Constable of France (1370-80), greatest French soldier of his time. A Breton, he initially served Charles of Blois in the War of the Breton Succession. In 1356-57, Du Guesclin held Rennes against English attack. Entering the service of King Charles V of France on Charles's accession (1364), he won the brilliant victory of Cocherel over the forces of King Charles II of Navarre. The victory forced Charles II into a new peace with the French king. Du Guesclin was captured in the same year at Auray by English forces under Sir John Chandos. Ransomed by Charles V, who placed him at the head of the ‘free companies,’ the marauding soldiers who pillaged France after the Treaty of Brétigny between France and England, De Guesclin was sent to Spain to aid Henry of Trastamara (later Henry II of Castile) against Peter the Cruel. Du Guesclin, though successful in the campaign of 1366, was defeated and captured (1367) by Peter and Edward the Black Prince at Nájera. In 1369, however, he and Henry won the battle of Montiel, gaining for Henry the throne of Castile. Warfare with England was renewed in 1369, and Du Guesclin re-conquered Poitou and Saintonge and pursued (1370-74) the English into Brittany. He disapproved of the confiscation (1378) of Brittany by Charles V, and his campaign to make the duchy submit to the king was half-hearted. An able tactician and a loyal and disciplined warrior, Du Guesclin had re-conquered much of France from the English when he died while on a military expedition in Languedoc.

BkXIV:Chap2:Sec1 He led the marauding Free Companies into Spain in 1365, to rid France of their predation, and stopped at Avignon on the way, to secure absolution and ransom money for them from the Pope.

Du Guesclin, Thiphaine

Dubois, Guillaume, Cardinal

1656-1723. A French cardinal and statesman, he gained the favour of Louis XIV by bringing about the marriage of his pupil with Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, Mlle de Blois, a natural but legitimated daughter of the king and Mme de Montespan; and was rewarded with the abbey of St Just in Picardy. When the Duke of Orléans became Regent (1715) Dubois, who had for some years acted as his secretary, was made councillor of state. Innocent XIII (1721), whose election was largely due to the bribes of Dubois, made him a Cardinal. In 1722 he was named First Minister of France (August). He was soon after received at the Académie française; and, to the disgrace of the French clergy, was named president of their assembly. When Louis XV attained his majority Dubois remained chief minister. He had accumulated an immense private fortune, but his health was ruined by his debaucheries, and a surgical operation became necessary. This was almost immediately followed by his death, at Versailles, on August 10, 1723.

Dubourg-Butler, Frédéric, Comte

1778-1850. A General, he fought in the Vendée then followed Bernadotte to Sweden, before seeing service in Russia. Attached to Marshal Clarke he commanded in the north of France but was ousted for Ultra-Royalism. He was re-appointed as a General in 1848.

Duchesnois, Catherine Joséphine Rafin (or Ruffin), Mademoiselle

1777-1835 An actress at the Théâtre Français in 1802, she played the parts of Phédre in which she debuted in 1802, Semiramis, Dido, Hermione and Marie Stuart. She was noted for her daring performances, retiring in 1830. Her tomb is in Père Lachaise.

Ducis, Jean-François

1733-1816. A French dramatist who adapted Shakespeare’s tragedies for the French stage. Although he remodelled the tragedies to the French taste for witty, epigrammatic style and attempted to confine the plays within the ‘classical unities’ (of time, place, and action), Voltaire still raged against what he called Shakespeare's ‘barbarous histrionics.’ Ducis achieved great success with his adaptations — Hamlet (1769), Roméo et Juliette (1772), Le Roi Lear (1783), Macbeth (1784), and Othello (1792).

BkXLII:Chap9:Sec1 The line appears in Oedipus at the House of Admetus (1778) and again in Oedipus at Colonus (1797).

Duclos, Charles Pinot

1704-1772. An author, he studied at Rennes College, then Paris. He wrote novels, and histories. His most celebrated work however was his Considerations sur les moeurs de ce siècle (1750). In the same year he succeeded Voltaire as historiographer of France.

Duclos, Monsieur

BkXIX:Chap4:Sec1 Removed Napoleon’s birth certificate from the official register, at Napoleon’s request.

Ducluzeau (for Desclozeaux), Pierre-Louis-Olivier

A Paris magistrate, he bought the site (June3 1802) of the Madeleine Cemetery after its disuse on 25th March 1794. He had noted the place where the Royal couple were interred, and planted a hedge and trees around it, and this allowed the recovery of their remains. On January 11, 1816, Desclozeaux sold his house and the old cemetery to Louis XVIII who met the 3 million livres expense of building the Chapelle Exapitoire with the Duchess of Angouleme.

Dufraisse, General

Dugazon, (Jean-Henri Gourgaud)

1746-1809. Debuted in 1770, Dugazon was an ardent revolutionist, helped the schism which divided the Théâtre-Français, and went with Talma and the others to what became the Théâtre de la République. After the closing of this theatre and the dissolution of the Comédie Française, he took refuge at the Théâtre Feydeau until he returned to the restored Comédie in 1799. He retired in 1805, and died insane at Sandillon.

Dugazon, Louise-Rosalie Lefèvre, Madame

Dugua, Charles-François-Joseph

1744-1802. Former soldier who returned to service in 1790, he was a general, Governor of Cairo during the Syrian campaign, Prefect of Calvados after Brumaire, and a member of the Legislative Corps. He died of yellow fever.

Duguay-Trouin, René

June 10,1673 Saint-Malo - September 27, 1736 Paris. He was born to a family of Breton ship-owners. In 1689, he began his career as a corsair. His courage, the respect which he gained among his men and his victories over the English and the Netherlanders during wars initiated by Louis XIV advanced his career rapidly. In 1709, he captured 300 trading vessels and 20 men-of-war or privateers. To reward him for his services, Louis XIV ennobled him. In 1711, he captured Rio de Janeiro after a bombardment which lasted 11 day, and forced the city to pay a heavy ransom.

Duhamel, Abbé

Duhamel-Dumonceau, Henri-Louis

1700-1782 A French naval architect, and agriculturalist, he was a member of the Academy of Sciences at the age of 28. He also researched the structure and physiology of plants, arboriculture and cereals. Several journeys, which he undertook for scientific research purposes, led him to the coastal areas of France and England, where he also studied economic conditions and trade.

Dulau, Arnaud

1762-1813. A former Benedictine, and mathematics professor at the College de Sorrèze, he emigrated and became a London bookseller and publisher. His premises were at 37 Soho Square. Dulau and Co often employed Baylis as a printer.

BkXI:Chap5:Sec1 Dulau et Cie began publishing the first edition of Le Génie du Christianisme in 1799.

BkXII:Chap6:Sec1 They ceased printing in the spring of 1800 and handed the composed sheets to Chateaubriand to take to France.

Dumas (Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie), Alexandre

1802-1870. The French writer is best known for his numerous historical novels including the Three Musketeers (1844) and The Count of Monte Cristo (1845-46). He also wrote plays, magazine articles, and was a prolific correspondent. After being compromised by the riots of 5th and 6th of June 1832, he was advised by the authorities ‘to travel’ for a while.

Dumas, Mathieu, Comte

1753-1837. Aide-de-camp to Rochambeau and then to La Fayette, he was a member of the Legislative Council, then rejoined the army after 18th Brumaire. A general in 1805, he became Joseph’s Minister of War in Naples. His reminiscences were published in 1839.

Dumoulin, Évariste

Dumouriez, Charles-François, General

1739-1823. A French general in the French Revolutionary Wars, after fighting in the Seven Years War, he was employed by King Louis XV on several secret missions. His career was fading when the outbreak of the French Revolution opened new prospects for him. Although close to the Jacobins in 1790, he offered his services to King Louis XVI and became (March 1792) minister of foreign affairs in a ministry that included several Girondists and that sought war with Austria. Made minister of war (June, 1792), he resigned to take the Marquis de Lafayette’s place as an army commander when the latter was charged with treason (August 1792). Dumouriez helped defeat the Prussians at Valmy (September 1792), drove the Austrians from Belgium at Jemappes (November 1792), and invaded the Netherlands (February 1793). Defeated (March) at Neerwinden, he began negotiations with the Austrians, and after turning over to them the commissioners sent from Paris to investigate his defeat he finally (April 1793) deserted to the Austrian lines. After wandering over Europe, disavowed even by the French royalists, he settled (1800) in England.

Dunker

He was a literary man, no details known. Speculatively perhaps Balthasar Anton Dunker 1746-1807, a German artist, who later lived in Paris and Berne, where he died. He was a landscape draughtsman, book illustrator, and also left some limited literary work.

Durkheim, (Dunkeim in the text, Bad Durkheim since 1853)

A spa town in the Rhineland-Palatinate of west-central Germany, it lies on the eastern slope of the Haardt Mountains at the entrance to the Isenach Valley, 13 miles west of Mannheim. The Heidenmauer is a long Celtic stone ring-wall (possibly c2500BC), enclosing a settlement from c.500BC. Limburg Abbey’s Benedictine ruins are near the town. Nearby also are the ruins of the massive Hardenberg Castle built in 1205 for the Counts of Leiningen, extended in the 15th and 16th centuries and destroyed by French Revolutionary troops, in 1794.

Dunmore, John Murray 4th Earl of

1730-1809. The British governor of the Province of New York from 1770 to 1771 and the Virginia Colony from September 25, 1771 until just before the American Revolutionary War began in June 1775. During his term as Virginia’s colonial governor, from 1771 to 1774, he directed a series of campaigns against the Indians known as Lord Dunmore's War. The Shawnee were the main target of these attacks, and his purpose was to strengthen Virginia’s claims in the west, particularly in the Ohio Country.

Duperron, Jacques Davy, Cardinal

Dupin, André Marie Jean-Jacques

1783-1865. Commonly called Dupin the Elder, he was an advocate, president of the Chamber of Deputies, and of the Legislative Assembly. At the election after the second Restoration Dupin was not re-elected. He defended with great intrepidity the principal political victims of the reaction, among others, in conjunction with Nicolas Berryer, Marshal Ney; and in October 1815 boldly published a tractate entitled Libre Defense des accusés. He had a long career. In 1857 he was offered his old office by the emperor, and accepted it, explaining his acceptance in a discourse, a sentence of which may be employed to describe his whole political career. ‘I have always,’ he said, ‘belonged to France and never to parties.’

Dupont de l’Étang, Pierre Antoine, General

1765-1840. A distinguished Revolutionary and Napoleonic general, who was forced to capitulate in Spain at Baylen, in 1808. After his return to France, Dupont was court-martialled, deprived of his rank and title, and imprisoned at Fort de Joux from 1812 to 1814. Released by the initial Restoration, he was employed by Louis XVIII in a military command, which he lost on the return of Napoleon during the Hundred Days. But the Second Restoration saw him reinstated to the army, and appointed a member of the conseil privé of king Louis. Between April and December 1814, he was Minister of War. From 1815 to 1830, Dupont was deputy for the Charente. He lived in retirement from 1832 until his death.

Dupont de L’Eure, Jacques Charles

1767-1855. A French lawyer and statesman, and a respected Constitutional Liberal. In 1789 he was an advocate at the parlement of Normandy. In 1798 he was a member of the Council of Five Hundred. In 1813 he became a member of the Corps Legislatif. During the Hundred Days he was vice-president of the Chamber of Deputies. From 1817 till 1849 he was uninterruptedly a member of the Chamber of Deputies, and acted consistently with the liberal opposition, of which at more than one crisis he was the virtual leader. For a few months in 1830 he held office as minister of justice, but, finding himself out of harmony with his colleagues, he resigned before the close of the year and resumed his place in the opposition. At the revolution of 1848 Dupont de l'Eure was made president of the provisional assembly as being its oldest member. In the following year, having failed to secure his re-election to the chamber, he retired into private life.

Dupuis, Charles-François

1742-1809. At the age of twenty-four he was made professor of rhetoric at Lisieux.; but his inclination led him into the field of mathematics. In his work, Origine de tous les Cultus he attempted to explain not only all the mysteries of antiquity, but also the origin of all religious beliefs. In his Memoire explicatif du Zodiaque chronologique et mythologique (1806) he maintained a common origin for the astronomical and religious opinions of the Greeks, Egyptians, Chinese, Persians, and Arabians.

Duquesne, Marquis Abraham

1610-1688. Naval Commander. Born in Dieppe, he saw active service in the French Navy before becoming Vice-Admiral of the Swedish Navy, in 1643, fighting for them against the Danes. He returned to France in 1645, and rejoined the French Navy where he was active in the Mediterranean. He was later present as second in command when the French fleet under Comte and Vivonne attacked and partly destroyed the Spanish\Dutch fleet at Palermo, which secured French control of the Mediterranean. For this accomplishment he received a personal letter from Louis XIV and, in 1681, the title of Marquis along with the estate of Bouchet, even though he was a Protestant. In that same year, 1684, he retired from poor health. He may have foreseen the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, though he was exempted from the proscription. He died in Paris on February 2, 1688.

Duras, Claire-Louise-Rose-Bonne de Coët-Nempren de Kersaint, Duchesse de

1777-1828. Wife of Amédée, she was a close friend of Chateaubriand. She left France in 1789 for London and returned in 1808 as the Duchess of Duras. She maintained a famous literary salon in post-Revolutionary Paris. She wrote a number of novels and novellas, and her works have recently received greater critical understanding, for their exploration of equality and identity.

BkXXII:Chap 24:Sec1 Description of their friendship. Ourika was published in 1823. The fictional story of Ourika explores the interior conflicts that occur when a Senegalese child is rescued from slavery and raised in a white aristocratic society of pre-revolutionary France and then refused a place in that society.

Duras, Emmanuel-Félicité de Durfort, Duc de, Marshal of France

1715-1789. Aide de camp to Villars and the King, he took part in all the wars of Louis XV and was made a marshal of France in 1775. He was Governor of the Franche-Comté and Ambassador to Spain. A friend of Mademoiselle de Lespinasse and the philosophes, he was elected to the Academy in 1778. He married Louise in 1739. Had Combourg from his wife and sold it to Chateaubriand’s father. He presented Chateaubriand and his brother to Louis XVI in 1787.

Duras, Louise-Françoise-Maclovie-Céleste de Coëtquen, Duchesse de

d. 1802. Daughter of the Marquis de Coëtquen and Marie Loquet, Dame de Grandville, she was the wife of Emmanuel. She married in 1736, bringing her husband Combourg, and sold Combourg to Chateaubriand’s father in 1761. She was widowed in 1789.

1745-1822. Daughter-in-law of Emmanuel, wife of his son Emmanuel Duc de Durfort de Duras (1741-1800), she was imprisoned under the Terror and released 9th Thermidor. Her prison journals were later published.

Durga

In Hinduism, Durga is a form of Devi, the supreme goddess. The 4 day Durga Puja is the biggest annual festival in Bengal and other parts of Eastern India. But it is celebrated in various forms throughout the Hindu world.

Duris-Dufresne, François

Duroc, Gerard Christophe Michel, Marshal, Duc de Frioul

1772-1813. A French Napoleonic general, devoted to Napoleon, he fought in Italy, Egypt, and central Europe. He was employed by Napoleon in sensitive negotiations. He was in attendance on Napoleon at the battle of Bautzen (May 20-21, 1813) in Saxony, when he was mortally wounded, and died in a farmhouse near the battlefield on May 23. Napoleon bought the farm and erected a monument to his memory.

Duschnik (Dušníky)

Du Tillet, Jean, Sieur de La Bussière

Died 1570. Lawyer and French historian, he was a clerk of the Paris Parliament. He left a number of historical works which were printed after his death. His brother, also Jean, was Bishop of Saint-Brieuc, and then of Meaux.

Du Touchet

Duvergier de Hauranne, Prosper

1798-1881. A French journalist and politician, he collaborated on the Globe, the Revue Française and the Revue des deux mondes. He was a Deputy in 1831, and in the Legislature in 1850. He formed part of an extensive literary circle which included Stendhal and Hugo. He was exiled briefly in 1851, and subsequently dedicated himself to his political writings, including his monumental History of Parliamentary Government in France.